Sunday, February 1, 2015

And In The End . . .

I don't know if I should tell you this stuff or not. It certainly made me sit up straight and take notice when I began seeing these "hidden secrets" in the Bible. These "secrets" are not really hidden at all, nor are they really secrets. They are laying there in full view for everyone to see - like puzzle pieces. Only when we begin to place these pieces together do we begin to see the larger picture. A larger more amazing plan than we could have ever imagined.

I'm going to lay out some Biblical truths for you in a moment and let you draw your own conclusions about what to do with all this information. Everything I am about to tell you is all in the Bible. It is all true. And it is so unbelievably amazing you will get to the bottom of this page and think, "Only God could have orchestrated something like this."

First let me tell you a little about Bible prophesy by relating an example of it to you. In the Book of Isaiah, chapter 53, we can read a prophesy about the coming Messiah. That Messiah would one day be revealed in the person of Jesus. We read . . .

"5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes (Jesus was whipped) we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."

Isaiah is relating God's foretelling about Jesus, a savior who was to come, and whose sacrifice on the cross would atone for our sins. This was written 700 years before it actually happened! The Bible is FILLED with prophesies like the one we just read in Isaiah.

There are seven Festivals found in the Book of Leviticus. They were recorded by Moses between 1400-1440 BC, directly from God. God established the specific dates for these festivals. Remember that. This is a list of the festivals.

Passover (Leviticus 23:5)

Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:6)

First Fruits (Leviticus 23:10)

Weeks or Pentecost (Leviticus 23:16)

Trumpets (Leviticus 23:24)

Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:27)

Tabernacles or Boothes (Leviticus 23:34)

Let's talk about Passover for a moment. This is from Wikipedia . . .Passover is an important biblically-derived Jewish festival. The Jewish people celebrate Passover as a commemoration of their liberation over 3,300 years ago by God from slavery in ancient Egypt that was ruled by the Pharaohs, and their freedom as a nation under the leadership of Moses. It commemorates the story of the Exodus as described in the Hebrew Bible especially in the Book of Exodus, in which the Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt.

In the narrative of the Exodus, the Bible tells that God helped the Children of Israel escape from their slavery in Egypt by inflicting ten plagues upon the ancient Egyptians before the Pharaoh would release his Israelite slaves; the tenth and worst of the plagues was the death of the Egyptian first-born.

The Israelites were instructed to mark the doorposts of their homes with the blood of a slaughtered spring lamb and, upon seeing this, the spirit of the Lord knew to pass over the first-born in these homes, hence the English name of the holiday.

Guess who is called the Lamb of God in the Bible? Well, that was Jesus. John the Baptist said this in The Book of John . . .

"29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! " - John 1:29Well that was interesting. Why would John the Baptist call Jesus the LAMB of God? Did he know something? I believe he did. Or more precisely, God did. Now it gets interesting.

Guess when Jesus, the Lamb of God, was crucified. He was crucified . . . on Passover. Mhmm. That's right. What an amazing coincidence. The Spotless Lamb, Jesus, was sacrificed for OUR sins on Passover - a day the Hebrew people celebrate death passing them by because they had the blood of a perfect, spotless lamb, smeared on their doorposts.

That's just the beginning. Here are some additional amazing truths about God's plan, His festivals and His amazing timing.

When was Jesus buried? On the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

When did God raise Jesus from the dead? On the Feast of First Fruits.

When did God send His Holy Spirit down on the apostles? On the Feast of Weeks (or Pentecost)

Are you sensing a pattern here? Is your mind spinning yet? Just wait. There's more.

All these things have already happened. But what about the three remaining festivals. Has anything or will anything happen on those days? What do YOU think?

What about the Festival of Trumpets? That's the next one on the list. Are there any prophesied events in the Bible that concern trumpets? Open you Bible to he Book of 1 Thessalonians. We read . . .

"16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord." - 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

The Rapture of The Church.

When is the Feast of the Trumpets? September 13th. It is Rosh Hashanah. There will be a partial eclipse of the sun that day. Later, after the end of the feast, on the 28th, there will be a total lunar eclipse, the third Blood Moon of the tetrad. Interesting. There's more

2015 is a Shemittah year. It began back on September 25, 2014 and it ends on September 13th of this year. What does Shemittah mean? It means "to release." It comes from the tradition of releasing those who are in debt but also can be mean releasing those who are indebted to you.

Coincidentally, the Pope is visiting the United States during this time - September 22-27. And guess where he is visiting? Philadelphia. Open your Bibles to the Book of Revelation, the third chapter. The words of our Lord . . . written to the church of . . . Philadelphia. :O

"10 Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. 12 The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. 13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’" - Revelation 3:10-13

I don't know about you but I am ready to go. I look at this world and I see it falling apart spiritually. People are committing sins against a Holy God and simply don't think twice that what they are doing offends Him. I am no better than these, but it is not my desire to sin against my King. I repent daily. Hourly! We must have a repentant, humble heart. Jesus is returning soon. When you hear the trumpet call it will be to late for those who refuse to believe.

The Feast of Trumpets is a little over eight months away. Do I know for sure that He is coming back then? No, I do not. No one will know. But I invite you to look at the scriptures. Be prepared, in season and out of season. Our job is to believe and to be ready. Examine the signs for yourself. Pray that God would reveal Himself to you through His Holy Spirit and written Word. Let he who has ears to hear, let him hear.